Butten has been playing banjo since he was 9-years-old, but began timing himself just two years ago in 2007, according to MPR:

That's when Butten learned an American banjo player, Todd Taylor, had just set a speed record by picking a tune on the banjo at 210 beats per minute.

"I went down to the basement and started picking." said Butten. "I think I was there four or five hours and I came running up the stairs screaming and shouting, 'I can do 210. I can do 210!'"

That success convinced him to chase the world record. His record-setting performance, timed by a metronome, hit 260 beats per minute.

"Fast cars, fast motorcycles, anything to do with speed, I'm there," Butten said with a twinkle in his eye. "Sometimes I'll sit in a corner and just go nuts, play something really stupidly fast you know, kind of come out of it with a big proud smile like a three year old kind of, 'Hah, whataya think of that?'"